Corruption
by EvilAngel920
Summary: A young waterbender leaves her home in the Northern Water Tribe to seek a life in Republic City. What she got isn't quite what she expected. Rated M for violence and language.
1. Prologue

"Any news?" The young man seated at the desk asked, eyes glinting.

He was speaking to another man, perhaps a bit older than him, who was cowering in front of the desk, visibly shaken.

"Y-yes. It appears she's attempting to free them. There's no way to stop her."

The other man's cold, gray eyes narrowed, then widened in rage. He stood and smashed his fist on the desk.

The underling jumped at the sudden action.

"THERE HAS TO BE A WAY!" He bellowed. "I will NOT stand idly by while she sabotages my operation. She has to be dealt with." He added darkly.

His messenger swallowed. "Of course. And she will be."

"Good. I want her alive."

"Yes, yes. But there's a small problem."

"And what might that be?" The young man asked, his voice icy.

"If our men discover her, it's likely she won't survive the encounter. They'll be fighting for their lives."

"Let them. I want her back ALIVE."

The older man struggled for a moment, hesitation and pain reflected in his eyes. It faded. Defeated, he dipped his head. "Yes."

He hurried from the room.

The younger man was alone now. He sighed. If the girl wasn't dealt with promptly, there was no telling what could happen to his plan. To his monopoly. He groaned. There was little he could do short of getting involved himself.

So be it. If he needed to take her down himself, he would. His betters wanted her alive, but if that couldn't happen, it wasn't that big of a deal. He would do it himself. If that was what it would take.

He wasn't afraid of her.


	2. Chapter 1

**This chapter has MUCH more detail in it. So if you're not into big words, sorry. Also, bending is hard to describe without visuals, which is probably why Avatar is an animation to begin with. So bear with me. **

She was packed. Everything was arranged. It was time to leave.

She had never seen the members of her tribe so...happy. They were all thrilled at the prospect of her departure, and had been quite enthusiastic with helping her pack and get out of their village.

And even after all that, they still hadn't given her a boat. Oh, well. Beggars can't be choosers. Besides, she could do without one.

She smiled to herself as she stood at the edge of the water. "Those assholes have been waiting for me to leave for years." She muttered. She chuckled to herself, a laugh without humour.

Kila, as she was known (you could hardly say it was a name, since it had been haphazardly thrust upon her at birth), was unpopular among her tribe, to say the least. They detested her. Sure, they had kept her alive all these years, but only the bare minimum was supplied to her. No seconds at dinner. Dessert was rare indeed. No social interaction.

As you might guess, Kila read a lot. Her tribe had a small library that she spent her childhood in, combing through books about combat, politics, science, weaponry, mathematics, animals, history, everything and anything she could get her hands on, she read.

Despite the fact that she was a waterbender, no one in her tribe celebrated the fact. Her parents certainly didn't care. Thus, she did her best to tutor herself in the art, though with no formal training, her style was quite unique. Unorthodox. But, through years of dedicated training and with the help of books and scrolls, she soon mastered the art, and the three sub-bending styles. There were no books on the third sub-bending art, since it was illegal, but Kila soon discovered that bloodbending was essentially the same as plantbending, with a few minor alterations here and there.

Kila closed her eyes and inhaled, the salty tang from the ocean resting on the air. It was time to leave.

She raised her hand and extended it out over the surface of the water. Cracks and pops sounded as the water underneath her slender hand froze into a large chunk that she could use as a raft. She stepped onto the makeshift craft, adjusted the strap on her bag, and looked ahead.

She shot both hands out behind her. The water around her raft reciprocated the motion and the chunk of ice sped through the smooth water.

Kila closed her eyes and let the spray of the ocean hit her face. Her long brown hair was tied back in a braid that usually rested on her left shoulder, but was flapping behind her like a flag due to the speed of the raft. Unlike other female members of her tribe, Kila's hair contained no hair loopies (she couldn't believe that was the technical term) and was simply the braid. Anything fancier, she felt, simply got in the way.

According to the map she had brought, it would take her approximately a week to get to Republic City, which was her destination. Ugh. And when she did arrive there, what was she going to do about money?

She shrugged off the issue. She would decide when she got there.

She adjusted her weight on the ice. To her surprise, Kila's feet began to slip. It a second she would be taking a surprise ice water bath. She raised both hands while clenching her fists. Ice crept up her toes and climbed up to her ankles before solidifying completely, anchoring her to the spot.

She exhaled. "That could have gone a lot worse." It wouldn't have been a major inconvenience, however.

She glanced at the darkening sky. She would need shelter.

Kila whipped her hands above her head. The water in front of her raft arched above and connected itself the the other side before freezing. After repeating this a few times, Kila had herself a little floating ice ball.

She was surprised some sort of spirit hadn't shown up to attack her or something. Since Avatar Korra had left the portals open seven years ago, spirits had been swarming the Northern portal, and yet she hadn't encountered any for several days. Odd, she thought.

She dug some rations out of her bag and began munching on some seal jerky. In a week she would be in Republic City. Kila would be able to rebuild her life. To have a life. She sighed and closed her eyes. It could only go uphill from here.

Besides, what was the worst that could happen?


End file.
